Leading article
The role of adiponectin in inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases
Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Regensburg, Germany
Correspondence to:
ProfessorDr Andreas Schäffler, Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Regensburg, D-93042 Regensburg, Germany; andreas.schaeffler@klinik.uni-regensburg.de
Revised version received 18 September 2008
Accepted 30 September 2008
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Adiponectin was discovered in 1995 by Phillip Scherer’s research group and described as a novel serum protein similar to C1q, being produced exclusively in adipocytes.1 Adiponectin represents an anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and anti-fibrotic adipokine that is highly abundant in human plasma. Adiponectin is induced during adipocyte differentiation and secreted from mature adipocytes into the blood stream where it circulates as homo-trimeric, hexameric, nonameric and higher molecular weight isoforms. Mutations in the gene encoding adiponectin result in an impaired multimer formation and cause lower levels of high-molecular weight isoforms in the plasma as well as a reduced abundance of all isoforms due to a disturbed secretion from the adipocyte.2 There are two receptors for adiponectin, AdipoR1 and AdipoR2, which are expressed in a wide variety of organs and cell types. The full-length and the truncated globular isoforms of adiponectin exhibit different receptor binding activities. Processes leading to a cleavage of the full-length
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